In comparison with conventional music instruments producing sound via making a contact between two or more objects, electronic instruments such as electronic drums, cymbals, hi-hats utilize energy conversion mechanism to convert tapping force or pedaling force to electrical signals, so as to trigger audio processor to analyze the electrical signals and then produce the corresponding sound. For instance, it is operable to utilize the applied force to modulate voltage or current in order to control the corresponding sound produced or not produced by the audio processor.
Taking electrical cymbal as an example, in “Electronic percussion instrument” disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,815,604, an arc shaped elastic element is used in which the shape thereof is modified according to the force applied to the cymbal pedal, so as to open or close a number of different switches and the resulting resistance value determined according to the number of open or closing switches determines the strength of electrical current, and thereby controlling the output sound of the electronic cymbal.
Besides, in the invention titled “High-hat type electronic pad”, disclosed by the U.S. Pat. No. 7,943,841, different pedaling force is applied to the cymbal pedal to cause the active element, disposed on different parts of the lower cymbal to make a contact with the corresponding electrical circuit of the upper cymbal, so as to control the output sound of the electrical cymbal.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 7,294,778, the invention titled “Percussion instrument, system, and method with closing position detection” described the use of coil spring as the force exerting element for controlling the size of the resistance, and through the pedaling force applied to the cymbal pedal to determine the contact area between the sensor and the bottom plate, in order to control the output sound volume of the electrical cymbal. The inventions disclosed by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,560,638, 7,820,903, 7,459,626 and 7,655,857 are not described herein, as the technology utilized are the same.
The common aspect of the technology utilized in the foregoing invention, is that they both use elastic element such as rubber and spring that changed in shape upon giving a force, so as to control the on/off of the electrical signal, for generating the corresponding electrical sound.
However, one major drawback of the use of elastic element to control resistance or electrical signal on/off switch is that it is incapable of giving feedback feeling for the operator, in particular to the user who demands similar user experience with conventional acoustic instrument. Besides, controlling on/off switch by means of making a physical contact is often limited to the number of switches and the position of the on/off switches being disposed, therefore unable to achieve multiple layered controls. In addition, the effectiveness of this method is often deteriorated by a few factors such as moist and dirt, that could result in rusting and long term tear and wear of the conductive elements.